Nikkei, Shanghai outperform lackluster Asia 

Asian stocks diverged on Monday, with markets in China and Japan leaping to their highest levels since August 21 while other regional bourses wobbled after below-view trade figures released at the weekend from China.

October exports fell 6.9 percent from a year ago, dropping for a fourth month, while imports slipped 18.8 percent, leaving China with a record high trade surplus of $61.64 billion, the General Administration of Customs said on Sunday.

“We believe the underlying trend in trade growth continues to weaken, which reflects persistent weakness in both global demand and fixed asset investment in China. Despite the hope of a potential turnaround in property sector and better fiscal support for infrastructure in the fourth quarter, the trade data suggest investment momentum probably has yet to pick up. The smaller drop in import prices also serve as a good reminder that terms of trade gains will likely narrow going into 2016, as commodity demand stabilizes at low levels,” a note from Bank Of America Merrill Lynch issued Monday said.

Wall Street handed over a mixed lead from Friday; the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.4 and 0.3 percent respectively, while the S&P 500 finished flat after a better-than-expected October jobs report raised the likelihood of a December rate hike.

According to figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, nonfarm payrolls grew 271,000 in October, registering a sharp jump from weak August and September numbers. The headline unemployment rate declined to 5.0 percent, declining even as the civilian labor force increased by 313,000.

Mainland stocks rally

China’s key Shanghai Composite index widened advances to 1.6 percent by late-morning trade, thanks to hefty buy orders for mainland banks.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s largest bank by assets, rose 4.1 percent, while Bank of Communications andBank of China advanced 7.3 and 6 percent respectively.

On the other hand, securities firms took a breather after a monstrous rally in the past two trading sessions, on the back of news that China’s securities regulator plan to resume initial public offerings (IPO).Haitong Securities slipped 0.7 percent, while Huatai Securities andChina Merchants Securities were little moved. Founder Securitiesclimbed up by the daily maximum allowable of 10 percent andEverbright Securities rose 6 percent.

Among other indices, the blue-chip CSI300 Index charged up 1.5 percent and the smaller Shenzhen Composite notched up 1.2 percent.

In Hong Kong, China International Capital Corp (CICC) was off to a strong start after raising $811 million from its IPO. Shares of the investment bank surged 9.3 percent to HK$11.24 in its market debut, above the IPO price of HK$10.28.

“What we can say is that the CICC listing, coupled with the recent listings of China Re and China Huarong Asset Management, has brought back some positive sentiment to the financial sector in China, especially since the [focus] over the past few months has been more on Chinese I.T. stocks given the upcoming MSCI inclusions of the ADRs,” Ken Wong, Asia equity portfolio specialist at Eastspring Investments, told CNBC.

The broader Hang Seng index nudged up 0.1 percent.

Nikkei rises 1.9%

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index extended gains to touch its highest level in two and a half months, as a weaker yen trading at 123.35 against the U.S. dollar fueled risk appetite.

Export-oriented stocks got a fillip across the board; Nikon, Sony andNintendo bounced up between 2.2 and 4.1 percent, while automakers such as Toyota Motor, Nissan and Honda Motor rallied between 1.8 and 2.3 percent.

Air bag maker Takata surged as much as 12 percent before trimming gains to 4 percent, recovering from heavy selling in the previous trading sessions.

Toshiba slid 6.7 percent after the laptops-to-nuclear power conglomerate said it swung to an operating loss of 79.5 billion yen ($645.66 million) in the three months through September, from a 90.2 billion yen profit a year earlier. The company also said it has sued five former executives over mismanagement that led to a $1.3 billion hole in its accounts.

ASX loses 1.7%

Hit by a broad-based slump, Australia’s S&P ASX 200 index touched its lowest level since October 7.

“I would certainly put [Monday’s plunge] down to domestic factors, rather than genuine concern about the Fed starting to normalize policy,” wrote IG’s chief market strategist Chris Weston in a note. “There have been many questions asked about domestic companies with BHP Billiton as a key one and the impact on top line growth, as well as the progressive dividend policy in the wake of the tragedy in Brazil. There also seems to be growing concerns around capital city house prices, notably in the wake of another drop in the Sydney and Melbourne auction clearance rates. Real estate investment trusts and banks have found good sellers.”

Market bellwether BHP Billiton plunged 4 percent, tracking a 3.6 percent slide in its U.S. ADRs after a dam at an iron ore mine in Brazil that it partly owns burst last Thursday.

Gold prices at a 3-month low sparked a sell-off among related counters; Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining plummeted 6.2 and 4.7 percent respectively, while Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search fell 2.2 and 0.8 percent respectively, on the back of a 2 percent drop in crude oil prices on Friday.

Shares of Santos were placed under a trading halt following news that the oil and gas producer plans to sell a 35 percent stake in the Kipper gas field in southeastern Australia to Japan’s Mitsui & Co. and raise 3 billion Australian dollars ($2.1 billion) through two share sales on Monday. The Adelaide-based company also said it would raise a further A$500 million by issuing around 73.5 million new shares to a unit of Chinese private-equity firm Hony Capital.

In the banking sector, Westpac led the fallers with a 2 percent plunge, followed by Australia and New Zealand Banking which fell 1.7 percent.

Nine Entertainment eased 1.6 percent as investors digested the appointment of media industry veteran Hugh Marks as its new CEO.

Asciano retreated 2.4 percent on news that Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management shelved a $6.5 billion buyout agreement with the port and rail giant.

Kospi sheds 0.5%

South Korea’s Kospi index edged down to a one-week trough.

Oil refining and chemical counters struggled amid lower oil prices; SK Innovation and S-Oil lost 1.7 and 2 percent respectively, while LG Chemdeclined 1.8 percent.

Among gainers, Hanmi Pharmaceutical extended a sharp rally, up 16 percent, as buy orders for the stock remained buoyed by news that the company has entered into a licensing deal with French drugmakerSanofi last week.

The index’s heaviest weighted stock Samsung Electronics clawed back early losses to trade marginally above the flatline.

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